DeepSeek Said to Be Building Its Own AI Inference Chip

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is reportedly developing its own AI chip to reduce reliance on chips from Nvidia and Huawei. According to an exclusive Reuters report on July 7, 2026, the chip DeepSeek is working on is designed for AI inference rather than training, and the project began about a year ago. The company is in talks with external chip-design firms, foundries and memory suppliers, and has recently ramped up hiring of chip-design engineers, the report said. No product name, specifications or release timing has been disclosed, and the account is based on three unnamed sources and remains unconfirmed.